Reading the Dry Season from the Village, Preventing Smoke Before It Comes

GARISBUMI.com – For Paulinus Kristianto, drought is not just a change of season. As a Dayak, he knows it as part of the life of the people who grew up with the forests of Kalimantan. However, when the dry season comes, there is a recurring worry: fire and smoke again threaten their living space.

The man who is familiarly called Linus is the founder of the Conservation Action Network (CAN) Borneo as well as a volunteer for animal conservation and forest and land fires or forest and land fires. His experience in the field made him continue to ask the question: why do fires recur, when the threat of drought has been recognized?

"As a Dayak, I am familiar with the annual fire cycle," said Linus, Wednesday (21/10/2026), as stated by the Ministry of Forestry.

In their observations, people recognize short dry seasons and longer dry seasons. Knowledge about seasonal changes, according to him, should be a provision to prepare before a fire occurs.

However, just recognizing drought is not enough. Linus assesses that the condition of the land also determines how big a threat must be faced when the rain doesn't fall.

He highlighted drained peat, shrubs and young secondary forests. Based on his observations of satellite images, a number of fire locations reappeared in the same area.

"The peat was dried at that time, so every time the dry cycle comes, fires reappear in the same location," he said.